


People Watcher

by MyLittleDino



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Cross-Posted on AFF, M/M, also mentions of hansol's hormones, appreciate chansol more pls, hansol is slightly confused about his sexuality, makeout scene from characters that aren't hansol or chan, mentions of other seventeen members - Freeform, pretty gross fluff tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 16:24:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7625566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyLittleDino/pseuds/MyLittleDino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hansol really liked people watching. Though he may like Chan just a bit more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	People Watcher

“You’re weird, you know that?” Seungkwan tells Hansol as soon as the younger takes a seat.

“Good morning to you, Seungkwan,” Hansol says, tone slightly amused.

“I’m serious, Hansol,” Seungkwan continues. “You’re not normal.”

“Seungkwan, it’s too early for this,” Hansol sighs, reaching towards his bag. The ziiiip is a satisfying noise to his ears as he takes out his math textbook and spiral. He then proceeds to place the strange assortment of colored pens he has onto the desk, not surprised when Seungkwan immediately plucks the pink one away.

“Could you at least let me know why you’ve decided to critique my lifestyle-- not that you don’t usually do that-- right now? And give me back my pen.” Hansol commands the other, already knowing the response.

“No,” Seungkwan says, already beginning to make small doodles on the upper righthand corner of his paper.

Although Hansol doesn’t put up a fight, he still bitterly chooses to write with the brightest and ugliest shade of orange that Seungkwan’s ever seen. Much like his friend, Hansol starts to scribble on the margin of the paper, letting his hand take over what his brain throws out. After a few seconds, he realizes he drew a poor imitation of a lion. Still, he smiles at how fluffy he managed to make the mane look.

“You still haven’t told me why you think I’m so weird,” Hansol reminds him.

“How come you don’t have a girlfriend?” Seungkwan asks.

“You’d get lonely if I did,” Hansol shoots back, a teasing smirk dancing on his lips. Seungkwan rolls his eyes and nudges the other, causing Hansol’s ugly orange pen to produce an unintentional slash dangerously close to the equally ugly lion.

“You’re not my only friend, Hansol,” Seungkwan says.

“Yes, but I’m your best friend,” Hansol smugly replies. “I don’t know. I just never thought about having a girlfriend or anything.” He finally answers in response to Seungkwan’s question.

“A boyfriend then?” Seungkwan offers.

“Pretty sure I only like girls,” Hansol insists.

“I’m just trying to give you options,” Seungkwan tells him.

“Well if I find a guy that I like, I’ll make sure to let you know,” Hansol jokingly promises. Before the two could talk more about Hansol’s ambiguous sexual preference, the teacher made his appearance, silencing all chatter amongst the students.

\---

It never crosses Hansol’s mind again until three days later when the boy was in the library. Hansol wouldn’t consider himself a reader, but the library was one of his favorite places to be. He enjoyed people watching, as creepy as it sounded. He couldn’t help it. He was a listener more than he was a talker, an observer more than a source of observation. He was unsure himself why he decided to people watch in the school’s library of all places, but there he was. It was fun honestly. Despite the fact that he was quite literally watching random students’ every move, he found out tidbits of the strangers he’ll probably never actually go up and talk to.

The kid with dark hair and thin-rimmed circle glasses, sweater sleeves long enough to cover his fists and form paws, keeps trying to read his book, but his tall friend with sharp canines and caramel skin would constantly pull his attention away from the words on the paper. Hansol would think the first kid was starting to get annoyed if not for the fact that the two were playing footsies under the table. And the shorter one looks at the other with eyes full of such fondness that it made Hansol remember why he liked to watch the everyday movements of strangers.

Two tables away from them were a pair of jokesters that would get hushed by the librarian or other students every two minutes it seemed. The one with slanted eyes whispers childish jokes into the other student’s ear, resulting in the latter trying his best to hold in a laugh. It looks like it physically hurt to contain the guffaws threatening to escape his lips and Hansol was sure that he would combust any second now. It was the one with the impressive eyebrows and wide smile’s turn to make a commotion, doing silly impressions of characters and referring to inside jokes that, if anyone else tried to keep up, would make no sense. Hansol enjoys how in tune the two were with each other. As if they practiced night and day together for an act that would entertain thousands.

At the corner of the library, hidden behind shelves of books students hardly read, an adventurous couple stands. The taller one has the other pressed against the sappy romance novels only few students cooed over. His lips hungrily latch onto the smaller’s pale neck, leaving purple marks and bruises in its wake. Hansol remembers that one of them used to have pastel pink hair. The librarian is too busy trying to quiet the loud teenagers from before that she doesn’t even think to check for hormonal students at the back of the library. Seems like this whole thing was planned out. Hansol had to give it to them for that, laughing at the realization. The kid whose hair used to be pink reaches up to thread his fingers in the dark locks of the taller male. He has to crane his neck to fully kiss the other’s lips, but the taller easily leans down to meet him halfway. Although others would be disturbed by a couple making out in front of them, Hansol thought it was kind of beautiful how they moved against each other.

“You know, it would be a lot less creepy if you had a book in front of you. That way you can at least pretend like you’re reading instead of completely watching that guy shove his tongue down the other guy’s throat.” A teasing voice brings him out of his concentration.

Hansol tears his eyes away from the passionate couple and towards the boy who had taken it upon himself to sit beside himself. The stranger had jet black hair and dark brown eyes. An easy smile hung on his lips and his gaze was gentle.

“I was never a subtle person,” Hansol replies, a grin sprouting on his face.

The other male chuckles. “Mind if I sit here?” He asks despite already being seated.

Hansol shakes his head. He goes back to the couple, the two swallowing each other’s hushed moans and gasps. He looks to see if the librarian notices, but she's still sending annoyed glares at the two rowdy students.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t kicked them out,” The boy says. “They’re always so energetic.”

“I kinda like it,” Hansol replies. “They’re free and happy and they like showing it. Although a library probably isn’t the best place to do it.” He admits.

The other student nods in agreement. Suddenly, he holds a hand out. “I’m Chan.”

Hansol takes it and shakes it firmly. “Hansol.” After he draws his hand back, he uses it to support his chin and leans on it. “So what’s up, Chan?”

Chan mirrors his actions so they’re face to face, attention no longer on the odd pairs in the library, but on each other instead. “What do you wanna know?”

“I don’t see a book in your hands. What else brings you to the greatness that is the school’s library?”

Chan shrugs. “I don’t know. I just felt like doing something. So here I am.” He laughed. “I’m not a very fun person.”

Hansol finds that he quite likes the sound of Chan’s laughter. “If it’s any consolation, I think you’re pretty cool.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,”

“What gives you the impression that I’m cool?” Chan wonders, a mischievous expression taking over.

For a moment, Hansol thinks they’re flirting. “You’re different.” Might as well play along.

“And you’re vague,” Chan snorts. He’s still smiling.

“A lot of people think I’m weird because I like watching them. It’s not really my fault. I just like seeing how other people react to things.”

“I don’t think it’s weird,” Chan supplies. “It’s like a game. Figuring out characteristics about people without them intentionally showing you. It’s kind of accomplishing when you can read people.”

Hansol feels happy that someone finally gets him. “This is why you’re different.”

Chan grins gleefully. “So, people watcher extraordinaire,” He begins. “Have you found anything interesting about me?”

Hansol wants to tell him how melodious he thinks his laughter is. And how pretty he looks when his eyelashes flutter shut every time he blinks. Or how Chan's smile makes his heart race just slightly.

“I think I might have to watch you a little bit longer,”

\---

“Pretty sure I’m not straight,” Hansol tells Seungkwan as soon as he sits next his best friend.

Seungkwan chokes on his water before violently coughing. After finally clearing the water from his throat and recovering from the sudden attack, he looks at Hansol with an incredulous expression.

“I kind of thought you were joking when you said you would tell me that you liked a guy?” He says in disbelief.

“I thought I was too,” Hansol replies. “But then I met someone and he made me feel things.”

“You know, you’re shit at words,” Seungkwan points out. “But you sound pretty enamored so tell me more.”

“His name is Chan,” Hansol starts off. “He’s got dark hair and pretty eyes and he really gets me.”

“Did you get his number?” Seungkwan asks hopefully.

Hansol’s eyes widen in realization. “Shit, I totally forgot to ask him.”

Seungkwan narrows his eyes in judgement at the other. “Of course you forgot. Alright well, I guess your best friend has to talk you through your first gay crush.”

“Please don’t call it that,” Hansol says, scrunching up his nose. “Just call it a crush.”

“Tomato, to-mah-to, same thing,” Seugkwan replies, swatting his hand. “Just ask him for his number the next time you see him and you’re on the right track.”

The next time Hansol sees Chan they're at the library again. Hansol is sitting in his usual spot, already observing the antics of the students taking refuge in, what should be, a studious environment. A couple of students are quietly catching up on classwork, but Hansol ignores them in favor of watching the two students from a couple of days ago. The hickies on the male’s neck still look freshly made, but it doesn’t seem like the kid is embarrassed by them. In fact, he seems pretty proud of them, showcasing them to the world in the t-shirt that reveal his collarbones. The creator of those marks is talking animatedly to him, stopping every once in a while to press a kiss to the smaller’s lips.

“His name is Seungcheol in case you were wondering,” Chan tells him when he pops out of nowhere. “The taller one. The one with all those marks is Jihoon.”

“You friends with them?” Hansol asks.

“Jihoon sits next to me in biology. 90% of the time he’s talking about Seungcheol. It’s pretty cute actually.” Chan laughs. He takes a seat, not bothering to ask this time. It’s not like Hansol would have cared anyway.

“Did you come here because you wanted to do something again?” Hansol questions him.

For the first time since meeting him, Hansol sees Chan blush. It almost shocks him how cute Chan looks because wow he thought he only liked girls up until this point and he doesn’t know how to handle himself.

“Actually, I was kind of hoping you would be here,” Chan says, avoiding eye contact with Hansol. “Guess I got lucky, huh?” His voice drops to a whisper, but his words ring clearly in Hansol’s ears.

“I think I’m the lucky one,” Hansol mumbles. Chan looks up at him in confusion, not catching what he said. Instead of repeating himself, Hansol shakes his head and changes the subject.

“How old are you, Chan?”

“I’m sixteen this year. You?”

“Seventeen,” Hansol answers.

They continue to talk about what their favorite pizza toppings were and how much they disliked country music. The more Chan talks about his passion for dancing and slight interest in rapping, the more Hansol finds himself being enticed by the younger male. He could talk to him for hours and hours and not get bored. It hadn’t even occurred to him that he didn’t complete his people watching like every other day, instead using that time to get to know Chan more.

“Will you dance for me?” Hansol asks a few seconds after they fall into a comfortable silence.

That’s how they find themselves in an empty dance studio in the school. Chan’s phone is already connected to the room’s speakers and he’s scrolling through the hundreds of songs he has to pick the right one. He settles on a Chris Brown song Hansol’s never heard and sets his phone down before jogging to the middle of the studio. Hansol takes a seat against the wall behind Chan, waiting in anticipation.

Just when Hansol thinks he couldn’t fall for Chan more, he watches as the younger extends his arms out and glides his feet around. Chan’s moves are smooth and fluid during the mellow parts of the song, but quickly turn sharp and crisp when lyrics sound throughout the room. Hansol mentally thanks Chris Brown for releasing that song or else he wouldn’t have experienced the masterpiece that is Chan.

When he finishes, Chan isn’t even out of breath. His smile is brighter than ever and Hansol likes how passionate he is about dancing. Chan looks at him in expectancy, waiting for a compliment or a critique.

“You’re amazing,” Hansol breathes. And then Chan has that blush that Hansol can’t get enough of. He wants to kiss the redness on Chan’s face away, but he controls himself. “You’re really amazing.” He repeats instead.

“Thanks,” Chan says quietly. It’s funny how just a few seconds ago, he was dancing so confidently and now he’s looking down at the floor with a small grin and pink cheeks and gosh Hansol really wants to kiss him.

\---

“So how’s your crush going?” Seungkwan asks.

“It scares me how I would much rather spend time with him than people watch, to be honest,” Hansol admits.

Seungkwan gasps dramatically. “What is this? Chwe Hansol would give up his people watching time for someone?”

Hansol rolled his eyes at his friend. “Shut up. It's not like my whole life revolves around watching people.”

“Seriously though,” Seungkwan chuckles. “You seem really into this kid.”

“I really am. Like, every time I see him, my heart feels like it’s gonna come out of my chest. And whenever he talks, I wanna just grab his face and kiss him.”

“Wow,” Seungkwan whistles. “You’re whipped.”

Hansol can’t find it in himself to disagree.

\---

__

To: Chan

__

From: Hansol

__

are u free this saturday pls say yes

 

__

To: Hansol

__

From: Chan

__

What if I said no?

 

__

To: Chan

__

From: Hansol

__

gee thx for breaking my heart

 

__

To: Hansol

__

From: Chan

__

Lmao yes I’m free.

 

__

To: Hansol

__

From: Chan

__

I told you I’m boring, remember?

 

__

To: Chan

__

From: Hansol

stfu ure gr8.

 

__

To: Chan

__

From: Hansol

__

notice how i put a period bc i mean business

 

__

To: Hansol

__

From: Chan

__

You type like a child.

 

__

To: Hansol

__

From: Chan

__

But yes I see your seriousness. What am I doing Saturday?

 

__

To: Chan

__

From: Hansol

__

we’re going to watch the stars together

 

__

To: Chan

__

From: Hansol

__

and people watch and shit

 

__

To: Hansol

__

From: Chan

__

That actually sounds really nice.

 

__

To: Chan

__

From: Hansol

__

gr8

 

__

To: Seungkwan

__

From: Hansol

__

i asked chan on a date

 

__

To: Hansol

__

From: Seungkwan

__

suck his duck

 

__

To: Seungkwan

__

From: Hansol

__

im not giving you a chance to correct your spelling

 

__

To: Hansol

__

From: Seungkwan

__

killjoy

\---

They sit beside each other on the grass, enjoying the gentle breeze that the night had to offer and staring up at the stars that littered the dark sky. Hansol forces himself to spot out the constellations he has no idea what they look like within the sprinkles of stars in the night sky, so he wouldn’t think too much about the fact that Chan was pressed against his side and that if he moved his fingers two centimeters to the right, he would be locking pinkies with Chan.

“You know, you never told me if you found anything interesting about me,” Chan speaks up. “I’m starting to think there’s nothing interesting about me.” He jokes.

Hansol holds his breath to prevent himself from spilling out all that he wants to say because in no universe is Chan not interesting. Hansol could simply watch the younger eat a bowl of soup and he’d be content, for goodness sake.

“I told you I needed to watch you longer,” Hansol weakly reminds him.

Chan hums in response, not entirely happy with that answer. He straightens up which causes him to move away from Hansol and it makes the older miss the warmth already. “Watch me now.”

“What?”

“Watch me right now,” Chan repeats, tone sure.

The determination in his voice makes Hansol sit up straighter as well. He turns so that his body is directly across from Chan’s.

“How can I watch you when you’re not doing anything right now?” Hansol asks him.

Chan shrugs. “People don’t necessarily have to be doing something to be watched.”

“I just think you desperately want me to shower you in compliments as to why you’re interesting,” Hansol teases.

Chan’s hands come up to his chest and he wears a mock hurt expression. “You caught me.”

The two of them laugh together and Hansol’s eyes zero in on the elated smile Chan’s wearing. He feels a surge of pride course through his veins knowing the fact that he’s the reason for Chan’s happiness in that moment. And the more he hears the music that is Chan’s laughter, he learns that he wants to hear it for the rest of his life.

“Why do you like to watch people so much?” Chan wonders once they’ve calmed down and returned their eyes to the stars above them.

“I’m not sure when it started,” Hansol tries to recall. “But when I was a small little kiddie, I guess my head was always in the clouds. My teachers would always scold me and tell me to focus in class. Even my parents said that I should be more aware of my surroundings, so I started watching everyone around me and paid attention to what they were doing.”

“So you went from not paying attention to anything at all, to being hyper aware of everyone’s movements around you? You don’t know what grey is, do you?” Chan giggled.

No he didn’t know what grey was because one second he wanted to hold Chan’s hand and the next, he wanted to push him against the shelves that had crappy romance novels in the school library.

“I guess not,” He replies.

Chan hums again and keeps looking at the stars. Hansol keeps looking at Chan.

“The stars are really pretty tonight,” Chan muses.

You’re prettier. “Yeah they are.”

\---

“I’m surprised you didn’t kiss him,”

“Trust me, I tried really hard not to,”

It had only been a day since Hansol and Chan had gone on their star gazing date. Hansol would have immediately texted Seungkwan about it all, but he was too busy screaming into his pillow and gushing over the night’s events. He slept incredibly well that night.

“He probably wouldn't mind if you did kiss him,” Seungkwan suggests.

“Knowing my luck, I would probably miss and kiss his nose or something,”

“Some people find that cute?” Seungkwan tries to comfort him.

“I just don’t want to move too fast, ya know? It hasn’t been that long since we’ve met and I don’t want to scare him off or anything.” Hansol explains.

He’s put a lot of thought into… whatever it was that they had. Him and Chan begin the habit of going out together more frequently. Whether it was to get ice cream after school or stay out late during the weekends, wandering to different food vendors on the street, it was obvious that their outings weren’t just hangouts between friends. Friends don't hold hands with an excuse to warm up each other's fingers, when the weather isn't even cold. Friends don't surprise each other with back hugs just because. Friends don't text each other until 2 AM on school night, talking about what they wanted to do when they graduate. Okay, Hansol talked about that with Seungkwan once, but he definitely didn't picture himself kissing the daylights out of his best friend like he often finds himself wanting to do with Chan. It made Hansol a bit frustrated that he couldn’t just tell Chan how he felt. Part of him thought Chan liked him, too, but the other, the more louder half of him, told him that he shouldn’t get his hopes up.

“You know, you could just ask him how he feels,” Seungkwan tells him. “What are you afraid of? Rejection?”

“That is exactly what I’m afraid of,” Hansol pouts. “How can I just flat out tell him that I like everything about him if I don’t even know if he feels the same way?”

“Which is why you ask,” Seungkwan pushes on. “You’ll never know if you don’t ask. Sure, he might not feel the same, but he doesn’t seem like someone to just drop your friendship. If you never ask him, you’ll never know. Maybe he’s just as scared to confess.”

“Maybe…” Hansol trails off, trying to distract himself of his thoughts by drawing some more ugly lions on his paper.

\---

“Hansol!” Chan’s energetic voice made Hansol look away from the vending machine, hand in the air and inches away from pressing the ‘COLA’ button.

“What’s up, Chan?” Hansol replies to him, quickly pressing the button and bending down to collect the drink. He holds the can out to Chan. “Want some?”

Chan hesitates for a second before nodding, grabbing the soda and opening the can. “I have great news!” He announces after taking a sip and handing the beverage back to Hansol.

Hansol takes a gulp himself and tries not to get excited about the indirect kiss because that’s stupid. “Alright, lay it on me.”

“There’s a showcase coming up and a certain someone has a dance solo in it,” Chan sings, eyes sparkling with joy.

Hansol’s heard about the showcase. There were a plethora of flyers and posters plastered around the halls of the school, making it hard to miss. Hansol was never one to attend school events simply because he wasn’t interested in them, but he wouldn’t mind going if that meant he got to watch Chan dance again.

“You got a solo? Nice.” Hansol’s response was a bit lackluster, but Chan grew even more giddy anyway.

“I know! You remember those two guys being loud in the library? Well one of them, Soonyoung, is actually in charge of the dance portion of the showcase. He saw me practicing one day after school and he asked me if I wanted to be in it.”

Hansol tries not to feel jealous at the fact that someone else got to see Chan’s dancing, he knew he had no right to, but the unappealing feeling still bit at him.

“That’s amazing, Chan,” He says instead.

“Thanks!” Chan replies. “You’re going, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Hansol says sincerely.

Chan’s grin widens as he pulls something out of his pocket. “Great because I already got you tickets.” He hands the papers to Hansol.

Hansol laughs and shakes his head, accepting the two tickets. “What if I had said no?”

“Gee, thanks for breaking my heart,” Chan mimics their previous text message exchange.

Hansol laughs again and presses the cold can of soda against Chan’s cheek. Chan flinches away from the contact but his smile still remains.

“Mind if I bring Seungkwan? He’s really big on these kinda things.” Hansol asks.

Chan shakes his head. “The show starts at 7:00, but get there early to get seats for the both of you. Apparently it’s gonna be a full house.”

“I’ll make sure to make an obnoxiously bright, neon sign with your name on it so you know I’ll be cheering for you the most,” Hansol says.

“Gosh, please don’t do that,” Chan chuckles, brows knitted in worry despite the sound leaving his lips.

“I was kinda joking before, but now I’m definitely doing it,” Hansol confirms. “I’m gonna scream so loudly that people look at me weirdly. And when they see your name on my sign, they’re gonna know we’re associated with each other.

Chan shakes his head in disbelief but his grin says otherwise. “Okay, sure. Have fun with that, Hansol.”

The bell rings, signalling their next class and Hansol’s already two sips away from being finished with his soda. He sighs, realizing they have to depart.

“Make sure you get there early, okay?” Chan reminds him one more time.

Hansol nods and chugs the rest of the soda before crushing the can, chucking it into the nearby trash bin. When he makes it, he lets out a small whoop and Chan laughs at his childish behavior. They stand there doing nothing, as if waiting for something to happen. Hansol knows he’s going to be late to his next class but he doesn’t care when he leans in to press a chaste kiss to Chan’s cheek. It’s natural how it happens, as if Hansol’s done this multiple times. He figures he should start doing it more often.

“Congrats for getting into the showcase and good luck on your performance,” He tells Chan whose eyes have widened and posture tensed.

Chan nods dumbly, muttering a ‘see you there’ before turning around and jogging to his next class. Hansol releases another sigh before deciding to do the same. On the way there, he wonders if he shouldn’t have done that. Then again, he did enjoy the shocked expression Chan had.

When he gets to class, he is late, but the teacher just sends him a disproving look before sending him to his seat. As he sits down and drones out the teacher’s words, he thinks about which color his sign should be.

\--- 

The day of the showcase arrives and, true to his words, Hansol’s made a sign for Chan. It's a fairly small, black sign with neon orange LED lights spelling out ‘CHAN’. Hansol even went the extra mile and drew a heart beside the ‘N’ with an equally bright red marker. The sign hurts his eyes when he looks at it and he loves it. He felt a little silly holding the cardboard, but then he spotted a couple of girls with their friends’ names on boards as well.

“I’m pretty sure those are the names of their boyfriends,” Seungkwan tells them as they make their way in line to enter the auditorium.

“Well my situation isn’t that far from their’s,” Hansol tries to reason.

“Oh yeah, totally. Chwe Hansol, supportive girlfriend of Chan,” Seungkwan teases him. “What’s next? Flowers?”

“Tch. No.” Hansol remembers how he stared a little too long at the roses at the store when he went to go buy supplies to make Chan’s sign, but he doesn't tell Seungkwan that.

“Maybe if you got flowers, Chan would get the idea and you two wouldn’t have to live with the obvious sexual tension between you,” Seungkwan sighs.

Hansol chokes on his spit as he hands the student council member his and Seungkwan’s tickets. The student looks at him weirdly, but Hansol quickly shuffles away, dragging Seungkwan with him.

“What are you talking about?” Hansol forces out, cheeks burning hotly.

“I’ve seen you two,” Seungkwan begins, wagging a finger at him. “It’s like you're physically holding yourselves back from pouncing on each other, I swear.”

“Shut up,” Hansol mumbles, finding two seats near the front.

“If your sign lights up, I’m leaving right now,” Seungkwan warns him.

Hansol smiles smugly and silently flips a switch, lighting the orange letters adorning his dark sign.

“Jesus Christ,” Seungkwan groans. “And it’s bright fucking orange. Way to go, Hansol.” Hansol cackles loudly and turns the sign off, waiting for the show to begin.

Three acts into the show, Hansol is impressed by the performances, but he’s still eagerly anticipating Chan’s stage. Even the Chinese student that he sometimes sees has an awesome nunchuck performance, but he hardly focused on that and robotically clapped when the performance ended. After what seems like forever, Chan finally steps on stage. Hansol immediately straightens up and turns his sign on, ignoring Seungkwan’s displeased scoff.

Chan takes center stage, dressed in a dark suit with a hat atop his perfectly styled hair. Michael Jackson bursts from the speakers and Chan springs into action. Hansol watches him dance intensely, eyes following Chan’s every moment. It wasn’t the first or second time he’s seen Chan dance, yet he's still awestruck by the younger, not wanting to blink because he might miss a single detail.

“Wow, he’s such a great dancer,” Seungkwan compliments.

Hansol nods but he doesn’t take his eyes away from Chan’s moonwalk. At one point, Chan hip thrusts the air not once, not twice, but three times and Hansol grips onto the sign in his hands so hard his knuckles turn white.

The performance ends and Hansol is both relieved and disappointed. He’s a bit sad that he couldn’t watch Chan dance longer, but he’s grateful that he was given time to cool himself down from the sexiness that Chan oozed. He was worried he may have had to cover his lap with his sign and he didn’t really feel like explaining that to Seungkwan. The showcase continues and Hansol can watch more comfortably now that he doesn’t have to worry about Chan giving him awkward boners. His sign stays turned off for the rest of the show, but it’s comfortably perched in his lap. When the show ends completely, all students that had performed come onto the stage for a bow and Hansol joins the rest of the crowd in a standing ovation. His sign is back on, illuminating the area around him. He knows that some people are probably annoyed at him, but he’s cheering and hollering Chan’s name too loud to care.

After people start emptying the auditorium, Hansol waits by himself for Chan. Seungkwan, as much as he would have liked to watch Hansol awkwardly flirt with the love of his life, was far too tired and insisted he needed to go home to "catch up on his beauty sleep", so Hansol stands there, stupidly holding up the sign he made, as if waiting for Chan at the airport. When he spots the younger, he actually holds the cardboard up and waves it erratically above his head. He sees Chan’s friends shove him and push at him with teasing smiles and he almost blushes himself.

“You were actually serious,” Chan says after jogging up to him.

Hansol smiles and nods, holding the sign out to him. “I was gonna get you flowers too, but Seungkwan said that was too cheesy.”

“I like cheesy,” Chan softly says, scanning the sign and smiling at the heart beside his name.

Hansol makes a mental note to give Chan flowers one day. “You were the best dancer out of everyone.” He tells the dancer.

Chan flushes and shakes his head. “Don’t lie. There were plenty other dancers better than me.”

“Nope,” Hansol insists, lips popping at the ‘p’. “You were the best and I couldn’t take my eyes off you. Now let's go eat at some cheap fast food place because I’m hungry and you need to gain more weight.”

Chan scoffs, but his eyes are gentle. “Says you. I could probably carry you on my back all day.”

Hansol finds himself liking that idea too much so he moves the sign to one hand and interlocks his fingers on his free hand with Chan’s. “C’mon. McDonalds is only a few minutes away.

\---

After ordering a cheeseburger and a ten piece chicken nugget meal, they find a booth next to the window. Hansol drowns his fourth nugget in barbecue sauce as Chan’s takes a large bite out of his burger, smearing ketchup and mustard on the corners of his mouth. He messily wipes away the excess sauce before going in for another munch. The sight is pretty gross honestly, but Hansol finds him absolutely gorgeous under the yellow lights and smeared eyeliner on his eyelids.

“You’re not holding back, are you?” Hansol jokes.

Chan pauses mid chew and it’s like he suddenly remembers he wasn’t alone. He swallows his food before thoroughly wiping his mouth. “Sorry. I’m a lot more hungry than I thought I was.”

Hansol smiles fondly before sticking two fries in Chan’s mouth. “A man’s gotta eat.”

Chan chuckles around the fries in his mouth and nods, picking up his burger once more. They eat in silence, the sounds of burps and sips from emptying paper cups filling the atmosphere every once in awhile.

“Thanks for coming to watch me, by the way,” Chan speaks after finishing his burger. He’s slurping at his soda and eating the rest of his fries.

“I told you I wouldn’t miss it for the world. It was fun being able to watch you.” Hansol had already finished his nuggets and refilled his soda. He pretended like he didn’t see Chan reach over, stealing more fries than should be necessary when he was refilling his cup.

Chan keeps blushing and Hansol wants to tell him how enchanting he is forever. They fall silent again but it isn’t uncomfortable. Hansol is picking at whatever fries he has left to calm his racing heart. It’s like they’re back at the vending machine, waiting for something to happen. Except this time, Hansol can’t depend on a bell to ring so he has somewhere to escape to. Not like he would want to leave Chan anyway. Especially when the younger looks so good even after scarfing down a whole McDonald’s meal.

“Head in the clouds?” Chan asks him, bringing him back to reality. “I thought you stopped doing that.”

Hansol shrugs. “Old habits die hard.” He humors.

“Wanna let me know what’s in that pretty head of yours?” Chan curiously wonders.

Hansol ponders for a second. He’s not sure if he should let Chan know that ever since they’ve met, he’s wanted nothing more than to smother him in kisses and see how smooth his bare skin feels with his fingers. Or how his dreams have suddenly been filled with images of him and his dance moves and fake scenarios in which they end up riding a horse into the sunset. Perhaps instead, he could tell Chan that he’s too afraid to confess because he’s not sure he wants to hear the answer.

He finally settles with, “You know how I like to watch people?” Fuck it, he thinks.

“Yeah?” Chan nods.

“You’re my favorite person to watch,” Hansol finally says before he leans over the table and captures Chan’s lips in a kiss.

Their first kiss tastes like greasy fries and tangy barbecue sauce. And Hansol wouldn’t have it any other way. At least he didn’t have to worry if his breath stank because Chan ate the exact same thing and he couldn’t complain if that was the case.

When he pulls away, Chan is a little breathless. His cheeks are about as red at the ketchup that stained his lips earlier and Hansol thinks he looks adorable.

“Is this okay?” Hansol asks, slightly out of breath as well.

Chan is quiet for a while and Hansol starts to panic because maybe he shouldn’t have done that? “Do it again.” Chan instructs him, ceasing all of Hansol's doubts.

So Hansol does. This time his hand comes up to caress Chan’s cheek and he applies just a bit more pressure. When he draws away, he wants to move in again and kiss him until they’re both lightheaded but reluctant to pull away for air. He scans Chan’s face for a reaction and waits.

Chan nods. “It’s okay.”

And then Hansol’s heart is soaring. He’s smiling his big, gummy smile. Chan mirrors him, feeling delighted himself. They sit there smiling at each other, looking like fools, but they’re fools in love so nothing matters in that moment.

\---

Hansol likes people watching. It’s a fact. There’s really nothing he can do about it. He just enjoys the feeling of watching someone unwind into a book they’re so invested in with headphones tucked into their ears, isolating them from the rest of the world. Or how he would get anxious watching someone juggle a steaming cup of coffee in one hand, car keys and a thick manila folder in the other, whilst on an important business call. Sometimes he felt his heart break along with the man that had just gotten his heart broken by his longtime girlfriend out in the rain. Most of the time, he simply liked the fact that he could tell a small part of someone’s life from the way they went about their day.

Hansol likes watching Chan. It’s a fact. There’s really nothing he can do about it. There were times where he would try to count the eyelashes Chan had. Other times, he would use his fingertips to draw imaginary pictures on the skin underneath Chan’s shirt. All the time, he would thank the heavens that they decided to tell Chan to go to the library that one day and allowed them to meet.

“I finally found out what’s so interesting about you,” Hansol tells Chan one day.

“Yeah?” Chan perks up in interest. “After all this time?”

“Mhmm,” Hansol nods.

“Alright what is it?”

“You get me,” Hansol starts. “You get me even when no one else quite does. Even Seungkwan, but don’t tell him I said that.” Chan laughs but agrees to keep hushed.

“And even though I space out sometimes and maybe pay attention to strangers a bit more than the average person,” Hansol carries on. “It lead me to meeting you and I’m incredibly thankful for that.”

Chan smiles and says nothing. Instead, he moves towards Hansol and plants a big, fat smooch on the older’s already puckered lips.

Hansol has half a mind to spill to Chan that he’s pretty much analyzed every detail about him from head to toe and he absolutely adores everything about him, but he figures he can tell him in small doses over time. After all, he did say he’s got to watch Chan just a little more.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my story!
> 
> *Edited 12.31.2016*


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